Home/Land Review - An Immigrant Story

We often take for granted the freedom we are continuously given on a daily basis. In the production of Home/Land, Director David Feiner does a magnificent job in portraying the lives of immigrants and the struggles their families encounter while attempting to come to America. The show runs from July 18th until July 28th at the Goodman Theatre located in downtown Chicago.

The Albany Park Theatre Project (APTP) is comprised of young, ethnically diverse, and very talented group of adolescent actors and actresses across the Chicagoland area. The cast does an outstanding job in covering all the aspects of writing, the playing of instruments, and choreography. As you are instantly mesmerized by their performance, you can truly feel the heart breaking and grueling disappointments that immigrants are faced with when attempting to come to America.

As each character tells their story, you cannot help but put yourself in their shoes and feel the pain and disappointment each person encounters. Individuals from the APTP interviewed community members and families in order to capture the real life experiences so many immigrants have been faced with and will continue to face in the years to come.

Right from the start, you are drawn into the lives of young immigrant families and how each person attempts to create a better life in the United States. We are shown the cruelty and the disrespect each person must go through and the struggles families must endure in order to become American citizens. We see the lives of families and their loved ones as they fear deportation every second of everyday.

We get a chance to feel the heart-wrenching pain a father must go through while trying to work job after job to support his wife and two children in order to stay in the country. There are many obstacles he has to overcome including having to see his son in an unfortunate situation. He continues to face deportation time after time and risks the chance of losing his family.

As we can continue to meet each character, we come across a young woman who fears boarding a plane to Arizona. She feels as though she is being constantly watched and fears the worse may happen at any moment.

One cannot help but want to reach out a hand to each character and comfort them. Although we are unable to do such an act, two brave women take on the challenge of assisting those who end up being deported. They do not give up and continue to find out the names of each individual being deported in order to properly notify their loved ones.

The young actors depicted the lives of the struggling families to perfection. There was not a dry eye in the house after this outstanding production concluded. You can truly feel yourself cheering for each family as they long for a better life and a better future for their families. For more information on how to attend Home/Land, please visit GoodmanTheatre.org.